Puppeteer

…

Summary:

She was beautiful, graceful and deadly, a true definition of his art. And because his art was eternal, she would not be allowed to change, ever.

Pairing:

Sasori x Sakura

Rating:

M

Betas:

N and C

…

Chapter 6

"It was Sakura."

Sasuke had always been someone you could describe as a lone wolf. Ever since he lost his family, he hadn't needed anyone, hasn't wanted anyone.

And why would he? Just to lose everyone all over again? He would rather remain alone as he was, to save himself from the pain and nightmares.

"It was Sakura."

Or so he thought before Team 7 came crushing into his life. Naruto and her, they were both so full of life compared to him. So full of will to live, full of what Konoha described as "Will of Fire". So naïve yet to the ways of the world, it almost made him jealous.

But they had made their way into his life rather forcefully, not taking 'no' for an answer. They had been a team, a family.

For a brief moment, Sasuke almost thought he could stay, learn to live again with Naruto and her by his side. That they could just be Team 7, a family in its own right with Kakashi as their team leader and father figure.

"It was Sakura."

But he had been wrong, so wrong to assume that his brother would let him be, that he would leave his thoughts and let him live for once.

He was after Naruto, that stupid knuckleheaded idiot that had wormed his way into his heart. Naruto, who was more of a brother to him than Itachi ever was. He wouldn't let him take Naruto away.

What else could he do but leave?

He had to protect them, his family.

"It was Sakura."

He had never thought, not even for a second, that she would also be in danger. Not her, naïve little Sakura, who hardly even knew how to fight, let alone do missions with any real danger to them. He had thought she would be safe within Konoha's walls, safe from Akatsuki, while he took care of his brother.

But she had proved him wrong, had proved them all wrong.

He had heard she went to the Hokage and demanded to be trained.

And trained she was.

He had been proud of her when he heard she could now crush mountains with her fists, so proud, but also so worried. It finally dawned on him, when he had seen her in the bingo book for the first time, she wouldn't be safe within Konoha anymore.

"It was Sakura."

And now she was missing, or so he had heard. The last anyone had seen of her was about 2 months ago, she had just disappeared after a fight with the Akatsuki's puppet master. He had seen the cave when he had gone looking for her, yet all he found was hundreds of pieces of severed, wooden limbs and a fatal amount of blood.

Yet there was no body to be found, not even a trace of her.

The Konoha ninja had been unable to locate her either.

He had hoped, he had looked and he had listened to every rumor he could get his hands on, using his summons to their full capability. It was like she had disappeared from this side of the world altogether. Like she had never existed, to begin with. He didn't hear even a whisper of her name, no matter how he tried.

And then he heard it, one night at a bar, not far from here. His team had followed him obediently, never once questioning why he left with such a rush after hearing that one sentence.

"Have you heard of the new Akatsuki member, they say she has pink hair."

And when Suigetsu described meeting someone who could only be her.

"Man! She had the most amazing shade of green eyes I have seen! And her hair! I have never seen anything so exotic and soft!"

"It was kind of cliché, I mean, she has the colorings of a blossom, green eyes, and pastel hair, but it still matches her really well."

He had heard Karin comment on her looks and it made him glare at the redhead. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her looks, even her rather large forehead suited her, made her purely Sakura. What he wouldn't give to see even just a glimpse of her unusual locks billowing in the wind.

Karin, dense as she was, ignored his glare as usual.

But when Suigetsu refused to confirm her name, his grip on his blade tightened to the point where his knuckles turned white. He wanted to hear it, he wanted to hear it now. He had been looking for so long, had been grasping at straws while trying to find any trace of her and now, Suigetsu thought he could keep her for himself?

His eyes bled into red without him noticing.

"Her name?"

This time the answer came rather fast, yet not fast enough for Sasuke. With a gulp, Suigetsu quietly confirmed what he had wanted to hear for 2 long months.

"It was Sakura."

…

After he left, he who Sakura now knew as Suigetsu, she could do nothing but wait for Sasori to come back. There were way more people at the bar now and she didn't want to gather any attention to the sounds her body made.

The drink she had ordered for appearance's sake still sat in front of her, untouched. It's not like she could drink it, even if she wished to at the moment. Glancing down at her sake gave her a feeling of longing. It was like she missed someone that the drink reminded her of.

A motherly figure without a face nor name.

Now that Sasori was not near, she could think a bit more… clearly, freely even.

So that is what she did while she sat there, rubbing the rim of her cup with her pointer finger. She tried to organize her still rather empty mind. She could remember very little, no faces, no names, yet there were a few things, few people that she could almost recall. Most of her mind was filled up with knowledge of Sasori, Sakura guessed it had something to do with their shared chakra link.

She remembered someone whose smile was brighter than the sun and the one whose black eyes bled into red. Everything else in her mind was a mess that she didn't dare to look into just yet.

There were other random people that popped into her mind at small reminders around her.

When they had walked in the streets earlier with Sasori, she saw a girl with blond hair in a high ponytail. Sakura had the urge to call out to them, their name on the tip of her tongue, but the girl had turned around and the eyes had been all wrong.

Then the thought had passed and the girl was forgotten once again.

'If I could get a headache, now would be the time.'

She preferred to have Sasori close to her, all of these confusing feelings and people she couldn't remember were making her… anxious, almost and she was sure she wasn't supposed to be feeling, well, anything, let alone something so... strong? Complicated?

This had been going on for a while now, ever since-

'-Ever since I lost consciousness,' Sakura realized. The voice, Inner it had said their name was, had sounded panicked, like she had something urgent to tell her. They had said she needed to find them before she woke up, whatever that meant.

Being close to Sasori had made her forget the voice and these… people.

Sakura had the sudden urge to run, to find out what the voice had wanted to tell her, to find these people that plagued her mind and to get as far away from her partner as humanly possible because of what he did to her-

"Sakura, we need to leave."

"Very well," Sakura said with a smile that hardly moved her wooden features and took the hand her partner offered. Her smaller hand fit perfectly into his as if it was made to do so, as he pulled her up gently from the stool with a smirk.

Her mind was quiet once again, for that she was grateful.

…

Beta notes:

None yet.

Hello, my dear readers!

So, life has been rather hectic.

Like most of you know, this story is on hiatus because of my arms and I have to keep it that way. I'm at a point where I cannot work anymore because of this constant pain and writing this was rather difficult.

I do not know when or if I can continue to write, no matter how much I want to. Please try to understand, it is not my wish to leave any story without an ending, so I will try my hardest to finish all of mine.

It will just take time, lots and lots of time.

P.S.

If you haven't checked out my story called "She was a Bang!" and want to know more about Deidara's feelings, I would suggest you read it. It is a part of this story and I really like how it turned out.

And as always, thank you for reading and have a nice day!

R&R

TY

-Hana